Panda Facts for Kids

A Picture of Pandas
  • Name: Giant Panda
  • Binomial Name: Ailuropoda melanoleuca
  • Subspecies (living): A. m. melanoleuca and A. m. qinlingensis
  • Subspecies (extinct): A. m. hastorni
  • Lifespan: Up to 20 years (wild)
  • Range: South Central China
  • Size: Between 4 and 6 feet long

14 Panda Facts for Kids

  1. The Giant Panda is a bear that is part of the Ursidae family.
  2. The binomial name for the Giant Panda is Ailuropoda melanoleuca.
  3. The Giant Panda is also called a panda bear or just panda.
  4. Pandas are black and white.
  5. Pandas are only found in South Central China in Asia.
  6. While consider omnivores, bamboo shoots and leaves make up 99% of a pandas diet.
  7. Pandas can eat up to 30 pounds of bamboo shoots a day.
  8. A panda can produce up to 60 pounds of waste a day.
  9. A female panda only gives birth to one or two cubs every two years.
  10. A newborn panda cub is born pink and is no bigger than a stick of butter.
  11. A panda cub will stay with its mother for 18 months.
  12. The first panda in the United States was a cub sent to a Chicago zoo in 1936.
  13. In 2006, the IUCN Red List estimated there are 500 to 1000 mature pandas in the wild.
  14. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the conservation status for Pandas as vulnerable.

Additional Resources on Pandas

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